Sundance 2011: Documentary Premieres

Sundance 2011: Documentary Premieres

With the expanding impact and popularity of documentaries in our world today, Documentary Premieres is a new section for 2011 that furthers the Institute’s commitment to this important form of storytelling by showcasing films on big subjects and new works by master filmmakers. Each is a world premiere.

Click on film title for film page.

Becoming Chaz/U.S.A. (Directors: Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato) — Born biologically female, Chastity Bono invites the viewer into a deeply personal journey as he transitions from female to male, embracing his true self, which is Chaz.

Bobby Fischer Against the World/U.S.A. (Director: Liz Garbus) — The drama of late chess-master Bobby Fischer’s career was undeniable,as he careened from troubled childhood, to World Champion and Cold War icon, to a fugitive on the run.

Granito/U.S.A. (Director: Pamela Yates) — A documentary film intertwines with Guatemala’s turbulent history and emerges as an active player in a nation’s struggle to heal itself and serve up justice.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold/U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Spurlock) — A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement is financed and made possible by branding, advertising and product placement.

The Interrupters/U.S.A. (Director: Steve James) — From the Academy Award-winning director of Hoop Dreams comes a story of ex-gang members who are now protecting their communities from the violence they themselves once employed.

Magic Trip/U.S.A. (Directors: Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney) — In 1964 Ken Kesey, author of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ and his band of Merry Pranksters set out on a cross-country road trip to the New York World’s Fair. Fueled by large doses of LSD, they filmed the entire journey. Forty-plus years later, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and co-director Alison Ellwood use that footage, audio recordings and photographs to create an immersion experience of the legendary trip.

Reagan/U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Eugene Jarecki) — Reagan examines the enigmatic career of one of the revered architects of the modern world – icon, screen star, and two-term president Ronald Reagan.

Rebirth/U.S.A. (Director: Jim Whitaker) — Weaving together five stories of individuals whose lives were profoundly altered by the 9/11 attack with unprecedented time-lapse footage of Ground Zero composed over ten years, what emerges is a chronicle of grief’s evolution and a nation healing.

These Amazing Shadows/U.S.A. (Directors: Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton) — The history and importance of the National Film Registry unfolds in a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.